Circuit board surface cleaning device

ABSTRACT

A circuit board surface cleaning device is provided for cleaning a surface of a circuit board placed on a carrier during a manufacturing process of the circuit board. The circuit board surface cleaning device includes a pipe having an air outlet and mounted on the carrier, and at least one airflow pipeline connected to one end of the pipe, allowing air from the airflow pipeline to be output through the air outlet to the surface of the circuit board so as to remove contaminants on the surface of the circuit board, which can increase the quality of the circuit board and reduce damage to the manufacturing equipment for the circuit board.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to circuit board surface cleaning devices, and more particularly, to a cleaning device for cleaning a surface of a circuit board on a carrier during a manufacturing process of the circuit board.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, surface mount technology (SMT) works by placing a circuit board on a carrier, then applying (e.g. printing) solder paste on contacts formed on a surface of the circuit board, then placing corresponding contacts of a semiconductor element or chip on the solder paste applied on the contacts of the circuit board, and performing a reflow process to bond and electrical connect the semiconductor element or chip to the circuit board.

During the process of printing solder paste, the thickness of the solder paste applied on the surface of the circuit board often becomes uneven due to the presence of some contaminants on the circuit board, such as plastic particles, large impurities or dust, thereby affecting the printing quality of the circuit board. For instance, if the solder paste is too thick at some areas of the circuit board, it may cause circuit failure such as short circuit, open circuit or wrong circuit, which adversely affects the functionality of the circuit board. Further during the process of printing solder paste, the circuit board with contaminants thereon may damage a scraper of the printing equipment, even making the scraper deformed and destroyed, and thus reducing the lifetime of the printing equipment. Therefore, before printing the solder paste on the circuit board, it is essential to perform a cleaning process to remove the contaminants on the surface of the circuit board so as to ensure the cleanness of the surface of the circuit board and prevent the foregoing problems.

A conventional method of cleaning the surface of the circuit board usually employs a cleaning tool including a roller and an adhesive tape to stick and remove the contaminants from the surface of the circuit board manually. When cleaning the circuit board, an operator rolls the roller back and forth on the surface of the circuit board, such that the contaminants adhere to the roller, and then the operator rolls the roller on the adhesive tape back and forth to transfer the contaminants from the roller to the adhesive tape. The above actions are repeated until the surface of the circuit board is cleaned thoroughly. However, this cleaning method is troublesome as it requires multiple times of rolling cleaning processes and also requires the adhesive tape to be replaced frequently to ensure that all the contaminants are effectively transferred from the roller to the adhesive tape, whereas the frequent replacement of the adhesive tape increases the cleaning cost. Moreover, the manual operation of the cleaning method may easily lead to drawbacks such as omission in cleaning, not following standard cleaning procedures and poor cleaning efficiency, resulting in an unsatisfactory cleaning effect.

Accordingly, there has been developed a circuit board surface cleaning machine 10 as shown in FIG. 1. The cleaning machine 10 comprises an upper cleaning roller 11 and a lower cleaning roller 12, wherein each of the cleaning rollers 11, 12 abuts against a dusting roller 13 that is wrapped by a dusting adhesive tape 14. A circuit board 15 is move through a gap between the upper and lower cleaning rollers 11, 12, allowing contaminants such as dust and impurities on surfaces of the circuit board 15 to adhere to surfaces of the upper and lower cleaning rollers 11, 12. Then, the contaminants adhering to each of the upper and lower cleaning rollers 11, 12 are stuck away by the dusting adhesive tape 14 wrapping the dusting roller 13, such that the circuit board 15 is cleaned. However, this cleaning machine 10 is structurally complex and expensive, thereby not widely used in the industry.

Therefore, the problem to be solved here is to provide a circuit board surface cleaning device, which can overcome the above drawbacks, improve the printing quality of a circuit board and reduce damage to the printing equipment, as well as is simple in structure and easy to implement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the above drawbacks in the prior art, an objective of the present invention is to provide a circuit board surface cleaning device for removing contaminants on a surface of a circuit board so as to increase the printing quality of the circuit board.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a circuit board surface cleaning device for reducing damage to the printing equipment.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide a circuit board surface cleaning device, which is simple in structure and easy to implement, as well as can simplify the manufacturing process and reduce the cleaning cost.

In accordance with the above and other objectives, the present invention proposes a circuit board surface cleaning device for cleaning a surface of a circuit board on a carrier during a manufacturing process of the circuit board. The circuit board surface cleaning device comprises: a pipe mounted on the carrier and having an air outlet; and at least one airflow pipeline connected to one end of the pipe, allowing air from the airflow pipeline to flow through the air outlet of the pipe to the surface of the circuit board so as to remove contaminants on the surface of the circuit board.

The air outlet of the pipe can comprise a plurality of holes or a plurality of slots, which are arranged at intervals, or can be a single long slot. The air from the airflow pipeline can be output via the air outlet to the surface of the circuit board to remove the contaminants on the surface of the circuit board.

The circuit board surface cleaning device further includes at least one supporting member for fixing the pipe on the carrier, wherein the supporting member comprises a supporting base mounted to the carrier, and a sliding part capable of sliding in relation to the supporting base. The supporting base has at least one sliding groove attached to the sliding part via at least one fixing part that penetrates the sliding groove, so as to set a position of the sliding part and a height of the pipe. The sliding part further includes a through hole for accommodating the pipe, and a screw penetrating a side thereof to reach the through hole and press the pipe, so as to hold the pipe in position and set a desirable direction of the air output from the air outlet.

The airflow pipeline is further connected to an air pressure source such as an air pump. The air pressure source has an on/off control valve for controlling the air pressure source and an airflow control valve for adjusting an amount of flow of the air, such that the airflow speed and strength can be adjusted according to practical needs.

Therefore, the circuit board surface cleaning device of the present invention is mounted on the carrier, and the contaminants on the surface of the circuit board can be remove by the air output from the air outlet of the pipe, so as to prevent the contaminants on the circuit board from affecting a subsequent printing process for the circuit board. Moreover, the circuit board surface cleaning device using airflow to remove or blow off the contaminants on the surface the circuit board, does not need the conventional complicated contact-type cleaning mechanism, thereby simplifying the structure and reducing the cost as well as overcoming the drawbacks in the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) is a schematic diagram of a conventional circuit board surface cleaning machine;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a circuit board surface cleaning device according to the present invention mounted to a carrier;

FIG. 3A is an exploded perspective view of the circuit board surface cleaning device according to the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of assembly of the circuit board surface cleaning device according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a sliding part of the circuit board surface cleaning device according to the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a side view showing a first example of an air outlet of a pipe of the circuit board surface cleaning device according to the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a side view showing a second example of the air outlet of the pipe of the circuit board surface cleaning device according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5C is a side view showing a third example of the air outlet of the pipe of the circuit board surface cleaning device according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of a circuit board surface cleaning device proposed in the present invention are described as follows with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. It is to be noted that the drawings are simplified schematic diagrams and only show components relating to the present invention. In practice, the layout of components could be more complicated. It should be understood that the following embodiments are not construed to limit the scope of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a circuit board surface cleaning device 2 of the present invention is used to clean a surface of a circuit board 4 placed on a carrier 3 during a manufacturing process of the circuit board 4. The circuit board surface cleaning device 2 is mounted on the carrier 3, and comprises a pipe 21, an airflow pipeline 22, and a supporting member 23.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the pipe 21 has an air outlet 21 a, and is connected to the airflow pipeline 22 by a curve tube 24. The pipe 21 is further mounted on the carrier 3 by means of the supporting member 23. The supporting member 23 comprises a supporting base 231 mounted to the carrier 3, and a sliding part 232 capable of sliding in relation to the supporting base 231. The supporting base 231 is formed with sliding grooves 231 a. The sliding part 232 is formed with a plurality of positioning holes 232 a such as threaded holes. The sliding grooves 231 a are attached to the sliding part 232 by fixing parts 233 (such as bolts) that penetrate the sliding grooves 231 a to be fixed to the positioning holes 232 a of the sliding part 232. By loosening the fixing parts 233, the sliding part 232 can be moved up and down along the sliding grooves 231 a to be set at a desirable height. When the sliding part 232 reaches the desirable height, the fixing parts 233 are tightened so as to fix the sliding part 232 in a position of the desirable height.

Referring to FIG. 4, the sliding part 232 further includes a through hole 232 b where the pipe 21 can penetrate, and a bolt 234 penetrating a side of the sliding part 232 to reach the through hole 232 b and press the pipe 21 so as to hold the pipe 21 in position, such that the pipe 21 can be fixed to the sliding part 232. Further by using the bolt 234, a direction of the air output from the air outlet 21 a of the pipe 21 can be adjusted. Moreover, by using the fixing parts 233 to adjust the height of the sliding part 232 as described above, the height of the pipe 21 can also be adjusted and set. Thus, by adjusting and setting the desirable height of the pipe 21 and the desirable direction of the air output from the air outlet 21 a of the pipe 21, airflow provided by the pipe 21 can be effectively aimed at the surface of the circuit board 4 to remove or blow off contaminants on the surface of the circuit board 4.

Referring to FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C, the air outlet 21 a of the pipe 21 can comprise a plurality of holes 21 a 1 arranged linearly as shown in FIG. 5A; or the air outlet 21 a can comprise a plurality of slots 21 a 2 arranged linearly as shown in FIG. 5B; or the air outlet 21 a can be a single long slot 21 a 3 as shown in FIG. 5C. The selection of the type of air outlet 21 a is determined according to the size of the surface area of the circuit board 4 and the speed and strength of airflow output from the air outlet 21 a, in order to effectively remove the contaminants from the surface of the circuit board 4.

In this preferred embodiment, one end of the pipe 21 is connected to the airflow pipeline 22 and the other end thereof is sealed. Alternatively, both ends of the pipe 21 can be connected to airflow pipelines in order to provide stronger airflow according to practical needs.

Moreover, the airflow pipeline 22 is further connected to an air pressure source such as an air pump (not shown), and the air pressure source comprises an on/off control valve for controlling whether the air pressure source outputs airflow or not, and an airflow control valve for adjusting an amount of flow of the air.

Furthermore, the on/off control valve can be operatively associated with an automatic control system. Thereby, when the circuit board 4 is placed onto the carrier 3 by a conveyor belt or an operator, the on/off control valve opens or closes an airflow channel, and the automatic control system can sense and automatically control the airflow output, so as to save the energy.

Therefore, the circuit board surface cleaning device of the present invention uses strong airflow to remove or blow off the contaminants on the surface of the circuit board, so as to improve the manufacturing quality of the circuit board and reduce damage to the printing equipment during a printing process for the circuit board.

Moreover, compared with the prior art, the circuit board surface cleaning device of the present invention simply operates by mounting it on the carrier to clean the circuit board and is thus easy to implement. Instead of the conventional specific circuit board surface cleaning machine, the circuit board surface cleaning device of the present invention is easy and convenient to operate, and can also simplify the manufacturing process and reduce the cleaning cost.

The present invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments above, however, it is to be understood that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar changes. For instance, the number and the arrangement of the pipe, hole and supporting member are not limited to those described in the foregoing embodiments. As an example, both ends of the pipe can be open ends to be connected to the airflow pipeline and the air pressure source respectively, in order to provide stronger and uniform airflow to obtain a better cleaning effect for the surface of the circuit board. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements. 

1. A circuit board surface cleaning device for cleaning a surface of a circuit board on a carrier during manufacture of the circuit board, the circuit board surface cleaning device comprising: a pipe mounted on the carrier and having an air outlet; and at least one airflow pipeline connected to one end of the pipe, allowing air from the airflow pipeline to flow through the air outlet of the pipe to the surface of the circuit board to remove contaminants on the surface of the circuit board.
 2. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 1, further comprising at least one supporting member for fixing the pipe on the carrier.
 3. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 2, wherein the supporting member comprises a supporting base mounted to the carrier, and a sliding part capable of sliding in relation to the supporting base and for adjusting a position of the pipe.
 4. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 3, wherein the supporting base has at least one sliding groove attached to the sliding part via at least one fixing part that penetrates the sliding groove, so as to set a position of the sliding part and a height of the pipe.
 5. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 4, wherein the sliding part is formed with a through hole for accommodating the pipe, and at least one positioning hole for accommodating the fixing part.
 6. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 5, wherein the fixing part is a bolt and the positioning hole is a threaded hole.
 7. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 5, wherein the sliding part further includes a screw penetrating a side thereof to reach the through hole and press the pipe so as to hold the pipe in position and set a predetermined direction of the air output from the air outlet.
 8. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 1, further comprising an air pressure source connected to the airflow pipeline.
 9. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 8, wherein the air pressure source is an air pump.
 10. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 8, wherein the air pressure source includes an on/off control valve for controlling the air pressure source.
 11. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 10, wherein the air pressure source further includes an airflow control valve for controlling an amount of flow of the air.
 12. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the air outlet comprises one of a plurality of holes and a plurality of slots.
 13. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the air outlet is a long slot.
 14. The circuit board surface cleaning device of claim 1, further comprising a curve tube for connecting the pipe to the airflow pipeline. 